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United States Patent |
5,129,147
|
Austin
,   et al.
|
July 14, 1992
|
Sluice gate or penstock door
Abstract
A penstock or sluice gate door constructed by providing a stack of steel
tubes (11) preferably of rectangular cross-section, which are stitch
welded together at (12). There are added welded side plates (13), a
central stainless steel spindle (14) and bolts (18) for lifting equipment,
and the so-formed panel is placed in a mould and encapsulated with an
impervious material. If desired side and bottom sealing strips (22, 23,
21) may be integrally formed during encapsulation. The resultant door is
lightweight and non-corrodible, and its strength is determined by the wall
thickness of the tubes (11) which will be selected accordingly.
Inventors:
|
Austin; Eric P. (Sandbach, GB3);
Harper; Robert W. (Stoke-on-Front, GB3)
|
Assignee:
|
Simon-Hartley Limited (Stoke-on-Tent, GB2)
|
Appl. No.:
|
552822 |
Filed:
|
July 13, 1990 |
Foreign Application Priority Data
Current U.S. Class: |
29/897.32; 29/897.3; 52/577 |
Intern'l Class: |
B23P 017/00 |
Field of Search: |
29/897.3,897.31,897.312,897.32
52/576,577
|
References Cited
U.S. Patent Documents
1681593 | Aug., 1928 | Pahl | 29/897.
|
1693742 | Dec., 1928 | Bemis | 52/576.
|
1776164 | Sep., 1930 | Nolte | 29/897.
|
2744042 | May., 1956 | Pace | 29/897.
|
3108406 | Oct., 1963 | Ellis | 29/897.
|
4092197 | May., 1978 | Robbins | 52/309.
|
4213929 | Jul., 1980 | Dobson | 52/577.
|
4827690 | May., 1989 | Viger | 52/577.
|
Primary Examiner: Eley; Timothy V.
Assistant Examiner: Martin; C. Richard
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Nies, Kurz, Bergert & Tamburro
Claims
We claim:
1. A method of constructing a penstock or sluice gate door comprising the
steps of placing a plurality of rigid tubes side-by-side with their
longitudinal axes parallel, attaching same together in face to face
abutting relationship to form a rigid panel, attaching side members across
the ends of the tubes to complete the panel, inserting a spindle tube
through aligned apertures in the tubes to extend through the length of the
panel, attaching said spindle tube to at least one of said side-by-side
tubes, and encapsulating the panel in a material impervious to air and
liquid.
2. A method according to claim 1, wherein said tubes are attached together
by stitch welding applied in longitudinally spaced regions along the line
of abutment of each pair of adjacent tubes.
3. A method according to claim 1, wherein said panel is placed in a mould
and said encapsulation material is injected into the mould to form
homegeneously around the entire panel.
4. A method according to claim 1, wherein, during encapsulating, side and
bottom seals are integrally formed along two opposed sides and the bottom
respectively of said panel.
5. A method according to claim 1, wherein aid rigid tubes are screwed or
riveted together.
6. A method according to claim 1, wherein said tubes are attached together
by laying same side-by-side in a mould into which is injected a bonding
agent.
7. A method of constructing a penstock or sluice gate door comprising the
steps of placing a plurality of rigid tubes side-by-side with their
longitudinal axes parallel and horizontal, attaching same together in
face-to-face abutting relationship to form a rigid panel, attaching side
members across the ends of the tubes to complete the panel, welding a pair
of bolts at their heads to the inner wall of one uppermost tube such that
said bolts extend through the latter with threaded parts of said bolts
protruding upwardly therefrom, and encapsulating the panel in a material
impervious to air and liquid.
8. A method according to claim 7, wherein said tubes are attached together
by stitch welding applied in longitudinally spaced regions along the line
of abutment of each pair of adjacent tubes.
9. A method according to claim 7, wherein said panel is placed in a mould
and said encapsulation material is injected into the mould to form
homogeneously around the entire panel.
10. A method according to claim 7, wherein, during encapsulation, side and
bottom seals are integrally formed along two opposed sides and the bottom
respectively of said panel.
11. A method according to claim 7, wherein said rigid tubes are screwed or
riveted together.
12. A method according to claim 7, wherein said tubes are attached together
by laying same side-by-side in a mould into which is injected a bonding
agent.
Description
This invention concerns sluice gate or penstock doors. Such doors are
usually mounted to be slidable vertically within a pair of side frame
members and are used to control the flow, usually of water, in an open
channel.
Conventionally, such doors are of cast iron or fabricated from stainless
steel or a combination of steel and plastics. Mild steel may be used in
some cases though this leads to corrosion problems and so a steel door
needs regular maintenance and painting.
Seals at the side edges of the door which may be attached either to the
door itself or to the side frame members, prevent seepage of the liquid
past the door and so there is a close sliding engagement of the seals upon
the surface of the door or the frame.
An object of the present invention is to provide a sluice gate door and a
method of constructing same with reduced cost and in certain cases with
less weight.
According to the present invention, there is provided, a method of
constructing a penstock or sluice gate door comprising the steps of
providing a plurality of rigid tubes arranged side-by-side with their
longitudinal axes parallel, and attaching same together to form a panel,
the so-formed panel being encapsulated in a material impervious to air and
any liquid with which the door is to come into contact.
Further according to the present invention, there is provided a penstock or
sluice gate door comprising a plurality of rigid tubes arranged
side-by-side with their longitudinal axes parallel and attached together
to form a panel, the panel being encapsulated in a material impervious to
air and any liquid with which the door is to come into contact.
An embodiment of the invention will now be described, by way of example
only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a penstock or sluice gate door made in
accordance with the invention and illustrated in a penultimate stage of
its production;
FIGS. 2 and 3 are fragmentary perspective views of part of a finished door
with two kinds of side seal attached thereto respectively, and shown
seated in its closed position against a bottom frame member; and
FIG. 4 is a fragmentary vertical cross-section of an upper central region
of the door.
Referring now to the drawings, a penstock or sluice gate door made in
accordance with one embodiment of the invention is produced as a panel 10
by stacking some 7 or 8 lengths of rectangular hollow-sectioned mild steel
tube 11 in superimposed abutting relationship with their axes parallel.
The tubes 11 are stitch welded together in longitudinally spaced regions
as indicated at 12. Side plates 13, or tubes, are welded to the ends of
the tubes 11, and extending downwardly through the centre of the so-formed
panel 10 is a stainless steel circular section spindle tube 14 which
conveniently is welded at 15 (see FIG. 4) to the upper surface of the top
tube 11, and similarly to the underside of the bottom tube. Pre-formed
apertures 16 in the upper and lower walls of each tube provide a clearance
fit for the central tube 14.
As can be seen from FIGS. 1 and 4, bolts 17 are welded at their heads to
the underside of the top tube 11 which is bored in its top wall such that
the threaded parts 18 of the bolts protrude therefrom for attachment of
the door lifting equipment. The top of the second tube down in the stack
is bored at 19 to provide a clearance fit for the bolt heads when the tube
is assembled.
Once the panel is formed as illustrated in FIG. 1 it is placed in a mould
(not shown), and a polymeric material is injected into the latter to form
homogeneously around the entire panel 10. Preferably, removable plugs are
first placed in the top and bottom of stainless steel tube 14 to prevent
the polymeric encapsulating material from entering same.
In the process of encapsulation, there may be integrally formed therewith a
sealing strip as illustrated at 21 in FIGS. 2 and 3 to extend along the
bottom of the finished door, and bear, as shown, against a bottom frame
member in use, and side seals for example as illustrated alternatively at
22 and 23 respectively in FIGS. 2 and 3, which will serve to seal the door
against adjacent side frame members in use. These sealing strips may be
formed entirely from the encapsulating material or alternatively they may
be separate strips of two or more materials attached to or located against
the side edges of the door prior to injection of the polymer
encapsulation, the latter thus locating the strips permanently in their
correct positions. The sealing strips may be of a softer plastic material
bonded or moulded to the encapsulated door.
The strength i.e. resistance to deflection, of the door is provided by the
tubular sections from which it is constructed and this will be determined
without affecting the outer dimensions by selecting the thickness of some
or all of the walls of the tubes.
Since the entire panel is encapsulated, there is no need for continuous
welding between the tubes, the stitch welding 12 being sufficient to
maintain the integrity of the panel. Indeed, the welds may be shorter
towards the bottom of the door where the vertical lifting loading is
progressively reduced.
Various heights of door may be achieved by making up the panel from a
number of tubes of different heights so that, for example, all but the two
upper tubes may be of one height, whilst the top tube will always be of
the same height to accommodate the bolts 17, and the second tube down may
be of a selected height in order to meet the overall dimensional
requirements. The width of the door will be determined by cutting the
tubes to the required lengths.
It is not intended to limit the invention to the above examples only. For
example, the tubes may be of other than rectangular section although this
latter form is preferable since it will take up the minimum of
encapsulating material.
Again, the tubes may be arranged vertically in the door although again the
horizontal arrangement is considered preferable since each tube bears
against the side frame members as opposed to only the two or perhaps four
side edge tubes bearing against the frame members if they are arranged
vertically.
If encapsulation is provided by, for example, an epoxy resin, then the
tubes may be simply laid in the mould and bonded together by the resin
itself. This may then be further encapsulated if necessary with a
polymeric material.
In a still further alternative arrangement the tubes may be screwed or
riveted together as opposed to welding or bonding.
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